Paolo Zanetti (born 16 December 1982) is an Italian professional football manager and former player, currently in charge as the head coach of Serie A club Hellas Verona. As a player, he played as a midfielder.
Club career
Zanetti started his career at his hometown club Vicenza.
Empoli
Zanetti was sold to Empoli in a co-ownership deal in July 2003,[2][3] for €671,400 fee (about 1.3 billionlire).[4]
In his first season with Empoli, he just made 13 appearances in Serie A. However, Empoli was relegated to Serie B at the end of the season and Zanetti followed the club.
Zanetti played 30 games in the 2004–05 Serie B season, helping the club to win promotion back to Serie A. However, he just made nine appearances for the club in Serie A in the following season. In June 2006 Empoli signed him outright from Vicenza,[5] for an additional €125,000 fee,[4] making Empoli had paid Vicenza €796,400 in total.
Ascoli
After acquiring the remaining 50% registration rights from Vicenza in June 2006 for an additional €125,000 transfer fee,[4] Empoli sold Zanetti to Ascoli in another co-ownership deal for €400,000 transfer fee in July.[6][7]
Torino
In May 2007, Zanetti said he would stay on at Ascoli, despite them being relegated to Serie B.[8] Ascoli bought the full registration rights of the player for an additional €750,000 fee, (making Ascoli had paid €1.15 million transfer fee in total)[6] but sent Zanetti, along with Saša Bjelanović, to Torino in another co-ownership deals for €1 million fee each, in a five-year and three-year contract respectively.[9] In the mid of same season Torino bought him outright for an additional €500,000 (making Torino had paid Ascoli €1.5 million transfer fee for Zanetti in total)[10] and Bjelanović was also bought by Torino for an additional €60,000 in June 2008.[10]
On 19 January 2010, Atalanta B.C. signed him on loan from Serie B club Torino F.C. until the end of the season.[13]
Grosseto
After being inactive from football for a season, Zanetti joined U.S. Grosseto F.C. on 8 August 2011 in a one-year deal.[14] Torino and Zanetti terminated the contract between the two parties in mutual consent.[15]
Sorrento
In January 2012 he was signed by Sorrento Calcio.[16] In May 2012 he signed a new two-year contract with Sorrento.[17]
Reggiana
On 23 January 2013, he was signed by Reggiana.[18] On 26 August 2013, he signed a new two-year contract.[19] On 18 November 2014 Zanetti retired and became a backroom staff of the first team (Italian: collaboratore tecnico di Prima Squadra).[20]
International career
Zanetti was a player of Azzurrini in 2001 UEFA European Under-18 Championship qualification[nb 1] He played twice.[1] After the elimination of Italy from the competition, he also played for the U-19 team (de facto U-20 B) in two friendlies,[1] against Netherlands (who still in the Euro U-19 competition)[21] and Germany respectively in March and May 2001. In the 2001–02 season, he played 13 times for the U-20 team, including matches in a four nations tournament. In the following season, he played once for the U-21 team in 2004 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification as well as 3 friendlies.[1] In his only competitive appearance in the U-21 Euro, he was a substitute of Samuele Dalla Bona.[22] He played his final appearance in national team against Austria on 19 August 2003, another friendly match.[1]
Managerial career
After retiring, Zanetti stayed at Reggiana as a technical collaborator and then as a youth coach.
In 2017, Zanetti took on his first head coaching job at Serie C club Südtirol. After two seasons ended with two consecutive promotion playoff appearances, on 7 June 2019, he left Südtirol for Serie B club Ascoli. He was sacked by Ascoli on 27 January 2020 following a 0–1 home loss to Frosinone that left the club in the bottom half of the Serie B league table.[23]
On 27 May 2021, Zanetti secured Venezia's return to Serie A after a 2–1 aggregate win in the promotion play-off over Cittadella, thus ending their 19-year exile from the top flight.[24] On 27 April 2022, Zanetti was sacked by the club following a run of eight straight defeats that saw Venezia bottom of the Serie A table.[25]
On 6 June 2022, Serie A club Empoli, a former team of his as a player, announced they had hired Zanetti on a two-year deal as their new head coach.[26] After guiding Empoli to a mid-table placement in the club's 2022–23 Serie A campaign, Zanetti was dismissed on 19 September 2023 following a dismal start to the new season, with four losses in the first four games and following a 0–7 defeat against Roma.[27]
On 13 June 2024, Zanetti was unveiled as the new head coach of Hellas Verona, signing a one-year contract with an extension option for one further year.[28]
^ The event was renamed to U-19 from 2001 onward to reflect the age limit at the end of the season instead of the start of the season. i.e. age limit unchanged
^"Calcio Mercato 2003" [Football Market 2003] (PDF) (in Italian). Lega Calcio. 17 July 2003. Archived from the original(PDF) on 18 July 2003. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
^"Mercato bianconero" [Market "White-Black"] (in Italian). Ascoli Calcio 1898. 7 July 2006. Archived from the original on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 4 September 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
^"Paolo Zanetti al Grosseto" (in Italian). U.S. Grosseto F.C. 8 August 2011. Archived from the original on 28 March 2015. Retrieved 25 March 2015.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)